Rules in writing numbers in an essay

I’m not Beth, but I’m bored so I’ll answer anyway. It depends on what style guide you’re using, but in Chicago style, used for most US fiction, most compound adjectives aren’t hyphenated after “to be,” but some “permanent compounds” that are listed in the dictionary (Webster’s 11th Collegiate is Chicago’s dictionary) are hyphenated. To make it more complicated, Chicago favors a sparser hyphenation style than that dictionary does, so some terms may be hyphenated in the dictionary but not in Chicago style. You can see their hyphenation table online here, which is a must-bookmark link for hyphen enthusiasts: http:///16/images/ch07_